Emergency

Emergency: Short story by Denis JohnsonOur objective is to include stories from as wide a range of well-known authors as possible. Occasionally this entails featuring a story that some may find frivolous or offensive, but others rave about. So it is with this humorous drugs-fiction tale from Denis Johnson. Two friends, a hospital clerk and orderly, stumble through their shift (and manage to save an emergency patient’s eyesight!) while high on stolen medication. They then embark on a drug-addled drive involving a carnival, famous guru, dead rabbits, mistaken military graveyard, and AWOL soldier. Themes: death, despair, escapism, drug abuse, responsibility, and illusion vs. reality.

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The Lottery

The Lottery: Short story by Shirley JacksonAuthor Shirley Jackson had no idea of the angry reaction The Lottery would receive when it first appeared in 1948. The story tells how each year the otherwise ‘normal’ people in a small American farming town perform a gruesome ritual to ensure a favorable growing season. The major theme is how herd or mob mentality can drive people to do things they would never consider individually. Other themes include dystopia, gender roles, violence and cruelty (human sacrifice), acceptance (the blind following of tradition), and man’s inhumanity to man (the potential for evil in all of us).

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A Point at Issue!

A Point at Issue!: Short story by Kate ChopinThis early Kate Chopin story explores the relationship between unconventional 1880s newly-weds. A progressive mathematics professor marries his ideal woman: independent, intuitive, intellectual and extremely good to look at. After a European honeymoon, they decide to live separate lives for one or two years. She stays in Paris to become fluent in French, while he returns to teaching in America. The relationship is tested when he writes about the interesting emotions a friend’s young daughter stirs in him, and she is caught with an embarrassed young man in her studio. Themes: independence and equality, trust vs. suspicion, jealousy, repression.

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The Last Question

The Last Question: Short story by Isaac AsimovIn commenting on this story, Isaac Asimov once wrote: This is by far my favorite story of all those I have written. After all, I undertook to tell several trillion years of human history in the space of a short story…. I also undertook another task, but I won’t tell you what that was lest I spoil the story for you. Although there is very little character development or action, the ending is so powerful that almost everyone who reads it remembers it. Themes include technological change, the search for knowledge, entropy and the fate of mankind, religion (omniscience, creation).

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Wunderkind

Wunderkind: Short story by Carson McCullersWunderkind (wonder child) is a German expression for child prodigy. The major theme of this story from Carson McCullers is a problem encountered all over the world: the tendency to place so much pressure to succeed on the shoulders of gifted children that they become discouraged and begin to under-perform. Questions are also raised as to whether the protagonist (fifteen-year-old Frances) has the passion to become a great pianist and, if so, whether her teacher (a well-meaning family friend) is the best one to work with her. Other themes: alienation/loneliness, competitive pressure, fear of failure, sexual confusion, escape.

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Weight

Weight: Short story by John Edgar WidemanIn this story by John Edgar Wideman, a writer calls his mother and reads her a draft of a story he has written. It opens with the metaphor My mother is a weightlifter, and goes on to admire the way she has shouldered so many burdens throughout her life. She is not impressed. Two days later, she dies. As he reflects on the call he realizes it wasn’t the story that upset her, but his opening words: This is about a man scared he won’t survive his mother’s passing. Themes include motherhood, love, racial inequality, suffering, strength, dependence, grief, fear.

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The Tractor and the Corn Goddess

The Tractor and the Corn Goddess: Short story by Mulk Raj AnandRenowned Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand was well known for his socialist views. These come to the fore in this tongue-in cheek story about a landowner’s progressive son who returns from overseas with such revolutionary ideas as turning his farm into a villager-owned co-operative and importing a tractor to improve the lives of workers. The focus of the story is the tractor, and the landowner’s ingenious method of overcoming the villagers’ fears and indignation associated with the tractor’s “rape” of their Corn Goddess. Themes: social conscience, change, religious and cultural differences, suspicion, pride.

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Cat and Mouse in Partnership

Cat and Mouse in Partnership: German folktale from the Brothers GrimmThis folktale is about a greedy cat that cheats a trusting friend. A cat and mouse decide to live together. They discover a pot of ‘fat’ (probably dripping) and hide it in a safe place so they will have something to eat over winter. Unfortunately, the cat cannot stop thinking about the pot and empties it well before time. In most folktales, something bad would happen to the cat to teach it a lesson. Not so here! When the mouse complains, the cat does what cats normally do. The moral: You can’t change the natural ways of the world.

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The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea: Novella by Ernest HemingwayThe central character in this award-winning novella by Ernest Hemingway is a down on his luck, aging fisherman who hasn’t caught a fish for 84 days. Convinced things are about to change, he ventures further out to sea than usual and hooks a giant marlin longer than his small boat. He finally reels it in after a three-day struggle and secures it to the side of his boat. Sadly, his prize is “stolen” on the way back to shore. Themes: man vs. nature, friendship, luck, memories, perseverance, suffering, religion, pride, defeat (a man can be destroyed but not defeated).

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A Great Day

A Great Day: Short story by Frank SargesonAn unusual aspect of this story from Frank Sargeson is that it is largely made up of superficial conversations between two ‘friends’ out in a boat for a morning fishing trip. Readers are given sufficient clues to piece together the men’s backgrounds and the major issues between them. However, they must make their own judgements about the grim climax. An important question in assessing Fred’s character is the timing of his plan. Was it a callous, premeditated decision made before the “Great Day”, or a spur of the moment, opportunistic idea? Themes: envy, jealousy, class, self-esteem, masculinity.

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